Monday, March 10, 2008

Vigil for John and Liz Calvert

The Calverts vanished without a trace last Monday after leaving a business meeting to go to their live aboard yacht in the Harbour Town Yacht Basin.

Tomorrow night employees and friends will hold a candlelight prayer vigil at 7:30 p.m. at the Liberty Oak in Harbour Town, with representatives of Providence Presbyterian Church on Hilton Head Island leading the service.

Employees of the marina are inviting all to attend the vigil.

While many theories abound, nothing of substance has come of the speculation. Local bloggers have even weighed in, offering thoughts and suggestions for local police and the public to ponder.

Meanwhile the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office has issued a formal missing person bulletin and now even the mindless three word sentence Nancy Grace has gotten into the media frenzy.

Outside of the nut case comments, one theme I keep hearing and to misquote F. Scott Fitzgerald as one blogger has "The rich are different". This has been repeated over and over again using words like "wealthy", "prominent" and "well heeled", but let me assure you of three things;

First Fitzgerald said "the very rich are different from you and me" and Hemingway's famously dismissive response "Yes, they have more money" is still on target, lastly John and Liz are not what you could consider very rich and they are not so different at all.

They own a business, a very modest boat and modest home in Atlanta, a dog, a cat and average Mercedes, a Porsche and an small airplane to get them from Atlanta to Hilton Head without the headache of trying to get home via the back roads of Georgia.

John and Liz are wonderful down to earth hard working people, that don't live extravagant lives or beyond their means.

Yes, they were doing alright, which makes it all the harder for anyone who knows them to understand why they would just disappear.

6 comments:

Watch the WTOC VIDEO and then watch the Island packet VIDEO. The part about Dennis Gerwing's Attorney's was cut-out of the middle of the Island Packet VIDEO, i.e. the part about who is or was Gerwing's Attorneys, i.e. Criminal Defense Attorney Cory Fleming...hint!....hint!

Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office - Hilton Head Island, SC

UPDATE: BCSO News Conference on John and Elizabeth Calvert’s Disappearance

"Sheriff Tanner tells reporters that Dennis Gerwing slashed his own inner thigh but leaves out that he was also stabbed in the chest several times. Learning early Thursday from Sheriff P.J. Tanner that Mr. Gerwing had killed himself by simply slashing his inner thigh with a knife, a process that that many describe as painful and agonizingly slow".

"But late Thursday it became known that Mr. Gerwing had “multiple” stab wounds as well as a gash on his inner thigh. Makes you wonder why the Beaufort County Sheriff was “spinning” the story and twisting the facts in the first place"

"But did Dennis Gerwing bring this tragic chain of events to the otherwise quiet Hilton Head Island Community all by himself or were there others involved? Was he capable of killing the Calverts, disposing their bodies, hiding the evidence and then stabbing himself to death? Why would he admit to theft but not admit to the greater crime. Why not add a statement as to the whereabouts of the Calverts?"

What other fact(s) and circumstances is Sheriff Tanner of the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office covering up?

The public needs to seriously question the judgement and competence of the head investigator Sheriff Tanner in this case. Tanner, after examining a dead body with serious stabs wounds to the chest and inner thigh determines that it was a suicide. The public relations message from Tanner was that Gerwing has a cut to his inner thigh and no mention of the chest stab wounds. That’s alarming that he immediately summed this up as suicide. In light of this UNBELIEVEABLE OMMISSION of not announcing ALL of the stab wounds and then to go as far declaring Dennis Gerwing’s death a SUICIDE?

One has to ask what else is Sheriff Tanner covering up or omitting?Can anyone say MURDER? This is no more a suicide than me flying to the moon. You can’t trust this Sheriff now.

Given this UNBELIEVEABLE OMMISSION, i.e.THE LIE! By Sheriff Tanner. The public needs to question the competence and ethics of our Head Solicitor Duffie Stone. Given that Solicitor Stone was at the crime scene and he was giving legal advice the Sheriff Tanner and other investigators. Also, what about the coroner? It appears that he just played along as well. The public should demand a replacement for the Sheriff Tanner for this investigation and also request that the Solicitor NOT be allowed to interfere with this investigation.

The Chief of SLED should remove Sheriff Tanner from this the investigation

“Attorney Dan Saxon and another Attorney Peter J. Strauss of (Novit & Scarminach), went to the villa where Gerwing was staying. They called Mark King, president of The Club Group, which manages the complex, to unlock the villa when no one answered the door”.

“The three(Saxon, Strauss, and King) entered and encountered another locked door upstairs, said Scarminach, who wasn’t with them. They then called 911 when they heard no response”.

http://www2.beaufortgazette.com/blogs/post/18439

MARCH 12, 2008Gerwing left two notes that are being studied by investigators with the State Law Enforcement Division. Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner declined to reveal the notes’ contents or the method of suicide.

http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/250809.html

MARCH 13, 2008

With the help of King, the men unlocked the front door and walked upstairs. When they encountered another locked door and could get no one to answer, attorney Dan Saxon called 911. The men never saw Gerwing’s body or his last written words, Scarminach said.

http://www.beaufortgazette.com/local/story/218985.html

MARCH 14, 2008

“Gerwing’s body was found after his attorney Dan Saxon went to his condo. Saxon told The Associated Press he found the bathroom door locked and a suicide note on the bed. He said he did not know exactly what the note said”.

“We saw one note. I didn’t spend a lot of time reading the note at all,” he said, adding that he was busy calling police.

What’s interesting about this is that it was originally reported that TWO suicide notes were found in the locked bathroom by Law Enforcement and emergency responses personnel. In other words, “The men(Saxon, Strauss, and King) never saw Gerwing’s body or his last written words”

NOW, Attorney Saxon found the bathroom door locked and a suicide note on the bed. He said he did not know exactly what the note said”. …”We saw one note. I didn’t spend a lot of time reading the note at all,”

What is also interesting is that it has been reported all along that there were TWO sucide notes and Attorney Saxon is saying now “We saw one note” not in the bathroom but on the bed and by the way “I didn’t spend a lot of time reading the note at all,”

Does this means that Attorney Saxon’s hands may have been on this note, is that what he wants everyone to believe? …just for reading purposes? …but not for reading very much, just a little reading? Or did he read the note without touching it? Keep in mind that Attorney Saxon is an Attorney and Attorney Strauss is an Attorney and both on the crime scene first. I think it’s fair to say that the Attorney’s would know what to do and what not to do regarding a crime scene and how to handle evidence.

About The Author

Cedar Posts and Barbed Wire Fences is the work of a life long resident of the Carolinas and a part-time resident of Charleston. A one time photographer for the Charlotte News and the Charlotte Observer the author's work has appeared in Boating, Men's Journal, MTOA Monthly and countless, yacht club, church and civic newsletters none of whom paid the author a dime.
The author makes no claim about the truth or political correctness of items reported herein.
Cedar Posts like fishing stories told over a cold beer are subject to varying degrees of embellishment.

About the Title Photo

The photo at the top is mine and is one of my favorites. It first ran in the Charlotte Observer nearly 25 years ago. In fact I'm surprised that I could find it.

It was taken with a Cannon F-1 (I still have the camera) in the last fading light of a cold winter day on Ocracoke Island.

I nearly missed the last ferry back to Hatteras Island because I was waiting for the surface to become glass like calm, the way I'd seen it a few days before.

But as it turned out the tiny ripples give the photo depth and life. If you look at the photo closely you can see both the current in the water and the ocean breeze pushing the grass in the foreground.